Galvanic contacting effect of pyrite on xanthate adsorption on galena surface: DFT simulation and cyclic voltammetric measurements

The effect of galvanic interaction between pyrite and galena on xanthate adsorbing on the galena surface has been investigated by means of density functional theory (DFT) and cyclic voltammetric measurements. The calculated results show that differences in the contact site and contact distance between galena and pyrite can affect the intensity of the galvanic interaction, and the relationship between the intensity of galvanic interaction and the adsorption ability of xanthate on galena surface has been studied in detail. In general, the galvanic interaction between pyrite and galena surface can enhance the adsorption of xanthate on the galena surface. The adsorption energies of xanthate on the galena surface decrease with the decrease of contact distance, and when the contact distance is lower than 4 Å, the adsorption energies decrease significantly at Pb-Pb, Pb-S and S-S sites. In particular, at the contact distance of 3 Å, a sharp decrease of adsorption energy is observed at the Pb-Pb contact site; in this case, the negative shift of the Pb-S bonding range and DOS non-locality at Pb-Pb contact site are significantly greater than that of the S-S or Pb-S contact sites. The cyclic voltammetric measurements reveal that the galvanic interaction between galena and pyrite improves the adsorption of xanthate on galena surface, which is in good agreement with the DFT results.